Buckle for webbing.



W. A. HOLDEN. BUCKLE FOR WBBBING. APPLIOATION rmm HAR.26,1910.

Patented June 13,1911.

5 n 1re n to'a WALTER A. HOLDEN, OF ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TOTHE ROBERT N.

BASSETT COMPANY, OF SHELTON, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CON-NECTICUT.

BUCKLE FOR NEBBING.

Patented June 13, 1911.

Application filed March 26, 1910. Serial No. 551,652.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, l/VALTER A. HOLDEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ansonia, in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inBuckles for Webbing, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to buckles of the lock lever class designed tocarry the extremity of a webbing and to operate along the runningportion thereof to form an adjustable loop.

The object of my invention is to provide a buckle of this characterhaving a back or frame made out of a single piece of wire bent up insuch a manner that the same can be strung so that a layer of webbingwill be interposed between the same and the garment thereby producingwhat is known in the trade as the rust-less effect. I attain theseobjects in the details of construction and manner of operation set forthin the following description and accompanying drawings in which likereference characters refer to corresponding parts.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a rear view of the buckle; Figs. 2 and 3, aside view and vertical section of the same in position on the webbing;Fig. 4:, a top View; F ig.. 5, a transverse section taken on line 0cw inFig. 3, the webbing only being shown in section, and Figs. 6 and 7, rearand sectional view of i a modification.

The buckle comprises a frame A and a lever B. The frame A is made out ofa single piece of wire bent to form a skeleton back having the bottombar a, the side bars 6, b and the top bars 0, c. The wire is thendoubled back on the bars a, c at (Z, til, then bent forwardly formingthe side members 6, e and the extremities are then bent inwardly towardeach other forming the pintles f, 7 which latterv may be continued ifdesired until they meet. The lever B is made out of a single piece ofsheet metal bent to form a front portion or shield g and a clampingmember in on each side of which latter the metal is slit to form thepintle straps z, i which are curled around the pintles f, f forming apivotal connection between the frame A and the lever B. To web thebuckle the extremity 7c of the webbing C is threaded or crowdedrearwardly through the opening in under the double bars d, 0,

which latter may be regarded together as the webbing attaching member.The webbing is embraces only the double bars (Z, 0. Thus' secured thewebbing is carried downwardly and returned upon itself passing upwardlythrough the buckle in front of the members a, 6, Z), and between thelever B and the attaching loop folded around the double bars (Z, 0,against the front side of which latter the webbing is locked, when thebuckle is closed, by the clamping member 72.. The webbing strung asdescribed forms an adjustable loop carrying the cast off member D.

In buckles of this type, wherein the webhing is clamped against thefront of the back instead of being deflected over-the top of the back,it is necessary to set the lever so that its clamping edge will swingclose to the front of the back in order to secure a sufficiently tightgrip to prevent the webbing from slipping when under stress. When thebuckle is strung with webbing of appreciable thickness this closesetting of the lever causes a distortion or springing of the frame asshown in Fig. 5, that is, the edge h of the lever comes to rest directlyopposite the members 0, c or between these members and the members (Z,(Z, so that the members 0, 0 being free to yield at both theirextremities will yield bodily in response to the clamping action of thelever, and the members 03, d being free only at their inner extremitieswill yield most in the middle, thereby caus ing the inwardly projectingbends or fingers formed by these two sets of members to spread forwardlyand rearwardly. The cramping or crowding of the extremity 7c of thewebbing through the restricted opening in under the attaching memberprevents the wedging action of the lever from drawing or pulling thewebbing upwardly around the attaching member which latter action wouldcreate a slight fold or bunch. in the sewed loop. This is a defectcalled creeping which is common in look lever rustless buckles. It willbe observed that when lock lever buckles of this character are strungrustless that the stress of the webbing causes the lower side of theback to tilt forwardly. For that reason it has been found impracticableto have the sewed loop embrace the entire back as in the case of buckleswherein the webbing is held by deflection and the forward tilting is notpresent. By constructing the back so that the webbing may be foldedaround a single bar, which in the present case consists of the inwardlyprojecting fingers formed by the double members, (Z, 0,- d, 0 thetilting portion of the back is located entirely outside of the sewedloop and does not interfere or distort the latter, and further makes itpossible to utilize asewed loop of minimum length and thereby savewebbing. This manner of webbing the buckle also permits the tiltingportion to be extended downwardly to cooperate with the lower edge ofthe lever and thereby assist in maintaining the balance of the buckle.By making the members 0, c a little shorter than the width of thewebbing makes it possible to conceal the tilting portion entirely withinthe folds of the webbing. If desired the inward projecting fingers maybe spaced apart sufficiently so that the extremity 7c of the webbing maybe first sewed to form the attaching loop and afterward slipped over theextremities of the fingers.

Referring to the modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the frame A, ofwhich a fragmentary portion is shown, may be webbed by folding theextremity 7c of the webbing entirely around the back members m and 0, n.The lever B comprises the front portion or shield 79, the web engagingmember 9, the downwardly projecting teeth 9, r and the pintle straps s,s. The web engaging member g has its edge curled downwardly so thatduring the operation of closing the buckle it may press the webbing intothe opening between the top bar 0, n and the bottom bar m withoutobtaining a grip thereon as in the case of a serrated edge. \Vhen themember g snaps over the spring bars 12, n it locks the lever in itsclosed position and holds the teeth 7', 1' in gripping engagement withthe running portion of the webbing.

Of course it is obvious that either of the levers or the methods ofwebbing the buckle above described may be employed in whatever form theinvention is embodied and the buckle is susceptible of such furtherm0difi-- cation as may fairly come within the scope of the appendedclaim.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A buckle comprising aback bent up out of a single piece of wire toformtop and bottom bars spaced apart, and a lever hinged to said back infront of said top bar, the said lever being provided with a web engagingmember arranged to coact with the front side of said top bar, and thesaid top bar being formed by doubling the wire upon itself to present apair of inwardly projecting and vertical disposed bends the lower sidesof which are adapted to yield in response to the wedging action of thelever.

Signed at Ansonia, Connecticut, U. S. A., i

this 18th day of lWIarch, 1910.

WALTER A. HOLDEN. In the presence of MARGARET E. BAXTER,

ADA M. GESNER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of latents, Washington, D. C.

